Trajectory (through time, T) and factors leading to resilience
(R) and vulnerability (V)

Case 1 – Mr. Thau, Khawa

Batlharo, aged 54, living with his wife, seven youth, and
10 additional children

Thau moved to Khawa in 1985 with his wife and young children.
They moved to benefit from the government support available.
This included food and schooling for the children, in particular.
At this time, Thau had 25 goats, two donkeys, and a donkey
cart. Once settled in Khawa, Thau’s family also started
collecting veld products, making leatherworks, and
brewing and selling traditional beer. In 1989, Thau’s
family stopped their leatherwork activities because an expensive
licence was imposed on the sale of products. This did not
significantly affect the household because that year Thau
became Councillor for five years. He earned 700 Pula per month.
He invested much of this money in livestock. He bought two
cows in 1990, and then every month he bought a goat. He also
invested money in a car and a syndicate-run borehole. His
wife cared for the livestock when he worked, and by 1994,
he had 150 goats and 10 cows, despite some losses to wild
animals (four cows killed by lions in 1992 but compensation
from the Wildlife Department was granted). While Thau was working,
his wife and children collected veld products to supplement
their diet. In 1994 and 1995, rains fell late so no veld
products were available. Thau also depended on piece jobs
and drought relief work during the 1990s – e.g., between 1994
and 2002, Thau was a Member, and later Chairman of the Village
Development Committee. In these roles, he received cash sitting
allowances. He continued to invest his income in livestock
and began paying a monthly fee to have a private water
tap in his compound. In 1999, Thau’s wife died, but
in 2001 he remarried the Health Clinic cleaner. In 2004,
additional household income was achieved when Thau’s
daughter started working as the Manager of the Co-operative
Shop. In 2004, due to low rainfall and degradation around
the settlement, grazing and water resources were limited.
Due to his access to transport in the form of a donkey cart
and car (which facilitated the transport of water and food
for those caring for the livestock), Thau sent his livestock
40 km west to access an area of rangeland that had benefited
from rain earlier in the season (Fig. 5). This area provided
sufficient wild watermelons (Citrullus sp.) and
grazing to sustain his and other household herds for up
to three months during the dry season. The extra nutrients gained
from these resources enabled his goats to reproduce twice
in that year, leading to rapid growth in numbers.

T2, 1990s – rapid accumulation of financial, physical,
and human assets, moderate capacity of agroecosystem to
remain productive (rainfall higher but degradation increasing),
increasing individual and collective capacity to respond
to crises as he became Councillor and his children got older

T3, 2000s – continued accumulation of financial,
physical, and human assets (children gained jobs), decreasing
capacity of agroecosystem to remain productive, capacity
to respond to agroecosystem decline high due to access to
transport and private water source

Case 2 – Mr. Mpoelang, Khawa

Batlharo, aged 74, living
with his wife, an adult son, and two children (one of whom has Down’s
syndrome)

Mpoelang was one of the first settlers in Khawa in the late
1970s. At that time, the rains were so plentiful and appropriately timed that he
was able to cultivate melons and beans near the settlement. He
also hunted for wild meat and made leatherworks, and the household
sold the leathers and dried meat (biltong) across the border into South
Africa.

Fluctuating trajectoryT1, late 1970s – high
capacity for agroecosystem to remain productive (high and appropriately timed
rainfall, low numbers of people and livestock, and no degradation), high levels
of access to natural assets (horses), moderate to high accumulation of financial
or physical assets (car, livestock), moderate capacity to respond (social
networks, no trade or resource-associated restrictions, no formal institutions,
transport)

At that time, Mpoelang had 30 cows, 18 horses, and a car. In the mid-1980s,
trade was no longer allowed across the border, and he ceased cultivation
due to the drought and inappropriate timing of rainfall. In 1984, he
also lost 15 cows and 18 horses to drought. In 1987, his household was not
allocated a Special Game Licence, and as a consequence they were no longer able
to hunt.
Despite this, Mpoelang was still able to make leatherworks by
purchasing skins from those who were hunting, and when the licence for selling
leatherwork products was introduced, he purchased one. In the early 1990s,
Mpoelang’s livestock numbers slowly began to recover. There was, however, a
setback in 1993 when eight of his cows were struck by lightening. Between 2000 and
2003, Mpoelang lost an additional 11 cows to lion predation. Financial compensation
from the Wildlife Department, access to pensions, and the sale of horses for cows
allowed some recovery of cattle stocks. In 2000, Mr. Mpoelang’s household
started to benefit from the quota system, with a small share of meat from the
community-allocated hunt available for his household. In 2003, the household successfully
cultivated rain-fed melons on a small scale near the house. In
2004, the household retained three horses and seven cows. The child with
Down’s Syndrome did not receive support from the
government.

R1. Accumulation of livestock in high rainfall
yearsR2. Cultivation of crops in years of appropriately timed
rainfall

T4, 2000s – some capacity of agroecosystem to remain
productive (ability to cultivate), some financial and physical assets (horses),
moderate capacity to cope (trade horses for cows), high capacity to cope (access
to pensions, compensation, quota meat, and pension)

R4. Diversity of livestock types (spread
risks)R5. Access to government support mechanisms to supplement
livelihood activities in elder years

Case 3 – Mr. Bakghotu, Khawa

Bakgalagadi, aged 66,
living with his wife and no children

Bakghotu first came to Khawa in
1974 with his wife. At that time he was hunting and he and his wife were making leatherworks from the skins of bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), black-backed jackal (Canis
mesomelas), and springhare (Pedetes capensis).
Bakghotu and his wife were making cushions and rugs and selling them to people for money. In
addition, they were collecting veld products for food and wild medicines for
medicine and sale. Bakghotu was also engaged in woodcrafts. Between 1980 and
1992, as a destitute, he and his wife also received a Special Game Licence, which allowed them to
hunt. Also, the remote area dweller (RAD) program provided his household with food rations, clothing,
and blankets. Between 1987 and 1988, Bakghotu was also employed for a short time
on piece jobs. These combined activities allowed him and his wife to purchase a few
livestock – goats, donkeys, and horses. Bakghotu described himself as
making “a very nice living up until the changes in licences”. From
1989, Bakghotu was no longer able to sell his leatherworks without a licence, and
from 1992 when the Quota Hunting Licenses were introduced, he was no longer able
to hunt for himself. Even in more recent years, a licence has been introduced to
prevent the sale of devil’s claw (Sengaparile – a medicinal plant),
and the other veld products Bakghotu used to collect for food, medicine, and crafts
are now located far from the settlement due to increased degradation. These
combined restrictions have severely limited the range of activities he is able
to practice for his livelihood, and with the loss of his livestock due to drought
and predation, he is now dependent on the government. He relies heavily on
the old-age pension and destitute rations but complained of shortages in the
destitute rations and reductions in the money provided to those in need.

T3, 1990s – moderate capacity of agroecosystem to remain
productive, loss of financial and physical asset stores, loss of access to
natural assets (permit changes), increasing reliance on government
support

V2. Loss of livelihood activity

T4, 2000s – some capacity of agroecosystem to remain
productive, no asset stocks, total reliance on government support

V3. Sole reliance on government support

Case 4 – Mr. Mathoa, Kedia

Bakalanga, aged 51, widowed,
living with three youth (two present and one absent at time of survey), and three
children

Between 1976 and 1979, Mathoa worked in Orapa. At this time, he
had very few livestock. In 1979, when he finished working, he invested the money
he had saved into livestock, mainly cattle and goats, the digging of a well, and
some cultivation. Between 1979 and 1984, the number of livestock units he owned
increased from 19 to 57 due to the availability of good grazing, browse, and
access to water. He also managed to accumulate land. However, between 1984 and
1994, he lost 50% of his livestock to drought, and no cultivation was possible.
During this time, Mathoa gained employment with the Land Board and married a
woman who was employed as a nurse at the clinic. The financial capital accumulated from
both forms of employment allowed re-investment in livestock and land after 1994.
By 2005, he had 15 hectares of land (12 hectares on one side of the settlement, three
on the other side). The number of livestock units Mathoa accumulated peaked at 72 in
2000 after a particularly good rainfall year. Cultivation of sweet reed, maize,
sorghum, watermelon, and beans was also possible that year. Food was generated
for both subsistence and sale. During this period, Mathoa finished working with
the Land Board and was retrained as a welder. He also received small amounts of
money at this time in his role as Village Development Committee (VDC) chairman.
The income generated through self-employment as a welder and from the VDC
enabled him to maintain his livelihood status despite the death of his wife in
2004 and a drop in livestock units to 53 in 2005 after two successive years of
below average rainfall. Some years (e.g., 2001), he was unable to harvest due to
pest attack on crops.

Stable trajectory - retained resilience

T1, late 1970s–early
1980s – high capacity of agroecosystem to remain productive, access to and
accumulation of financial and physical assets, moderate capacity to respond to
change

R5. Salaried employmentR6. Income
generation from self-employmentR7. Re-accumulation of
livestockR8. Accumulation of agricultural landR9.
Cultivation of a range of food cropsR10. Sale of some of the
harvested crop

Case 5 – Mr. Mmegwa, Kedia

Bakalanga, aged 76,
married and living with one wife, four youth, and five children

Mr. Mmegwa
worked for six years in South African mines. Between 1951 and 1975, he lived in
Xhumo and Beetsao. He was a healthy man who owned land and small shops. His household
used to cultivate enough to sell and managed to dig a well from the money this
generated. Since their move to Kedia in 1975, they have not experienced a good
harvest. Instead, livelihood activities at this time specialized in livestock
farming and small amounts of hunting around the lake. Livestock units in this
household peaked at 163 in 1991. Mr. Mmegwa stopped hunting around this time because
he considered himself to be rich. In 1993, however, Mr. Mmegwa’s well was
stolen and sold by someone else without his knowledge. This resulted in the
death and/or loss of all of his livestock and the reliance on the only other livelihood
activity that contributed significantly to the household at that time – his
wife’s brewing and sale of alcohol. This activity protected the household
livelihood from collapse, and over time, in combination with the collection and
sale of medicinal plants and Mr. Mmegwa’s monthly receipt of an old-age
pension, generated enough money to purchase livestock and access water once
more. By 2005, the numbers of livestock in the household had reached 11 cows, 16
goats, six donkeys, two horses, and 10 chickens. Despite several of Mmegwa’s
children being away from the settlement, either working or studying, none of
them send remittances.

Fluctuating trajectory with shift from accumulator-diversifier
strategyT1, 1975–1991 – fluctuating capacity of
agroecosystem to remain productive, access to and accumulation of natural
assets, high capacity to respond to change (financial and physical capital
stores, social network outside settlement)

Basarwa, aged 57, married and
living with one wife, one other adult, three youth, and eight children

During the
1970s, Baitsile’s household livelihood was composed of a range of
livelihood activities including fishing, hunting, cultivation, livestock farming,
and veld product collection. Of greatest significance at that time was
cultivation and veld product collection. In a good season, he was able to
cultivate up to ten 50-kg bags of maize, ten 50-kg bags of sorghum, and eight 50-kg
bags of beans, as well as plentiful supplies of pumpkin (maputse), green melon
(marotse), and watermelon (moghapo). Veld products collected after rain included
the fruits of Grewia species (mogwana, moretlwa/ moseme, motsotsojane)
and moretologa (Ximenia americana), as well as the Mophane worm. Baitsile was
able to sell some of these natural products. However, he described how in more recent
time periods (1990 onwards) veld products had become increasingly
scarce near the settlement due to the numbers of people collecting
such resources. During the mid-1980s, Baitsile was unable to cultivate due to
poor rainfall, he was no longer able to fish due to the lake drying, veld
products were significantly reduced due to low rainfall, and he was no longer
able to hunt due to permit changes. His livestock unit declined from 13 in 1981
to none in 1991. In 1991, the only activity that kept the household going was
government-provided employment in the form of piece jobs laying water pipes.
Between 1997 and 1999, Baitsile was employed by the Community Hunting Project. In
2000, after this project had ceased, the government gave Baitsile 15 cows. The
number of livestock has remained similar since. In 2005, Baitsile gained
employment as a night watchman at the settlement shop.

Fluctuating trajectory

T1, 1970s–early 1980s – high
capacity of agroecosystem to remain productive, access to and accumulation of
natural and financial assets, moderate capacity to respond to change

R1. Accumulation of a variety of natural asset
stocksR2. Cultivation of range of cropsR3. Supplementary
collection of wild food

Basarwa, aged 34, married
and living with one wife and two young children; lives adjacent to his sick
mother and elderly stepfather

When Charlie was growing up (late
1970s–early 1980s), the family's food came from the lake. They used to eat reeds and
fish. When the lake dried, life changed, and he can remember being
hungry as a child. Charlie was given one cow and one goat by relatives when he started his own
household, and by 2005 there were five cows and four goats. Some died that year due
to a lack of water. Charlie currently lives approximately 10 km outside the
center of the settlement in an area of Mopane woodland. He spends much of his
time now (2005) helping his sick mother care for her livestock, collecting
and preparing medicines and woodcrafts, and illegally hunting for small game.
Cultivation has not been possible since 2000 due to the irregular rainfall, and
even when it is possible, his household has only a small amount of land to cultivate.
Charlie’s household has access to a well, which is a shared resource with
other Basarwa families. His children are cared for by the government during
school term time. They come home during holidays. The elder parents both
receive a pension.

Diversified trajectory – increasing resilience

T1,
late 1970s–early 1980s – high capacity of agroecosystem to remain
productive, access to and accumulation of natural assets, low capacity to
respond to change